CBF is proud to celebrate Viviant Legra’s 5th Anniversary as a member of their Financial Family. Mrs. Legra is currently an HR Generalist in the Human Resources Department. Her main duties include employee recruitment, relations, benefits and leave of absences. Recently, Viviant organized a new “HEARTstyle Wellness Program” to help employees learn how to take better care of ourselves through a healthy eating, activity & relaxation training lifestyle program. She has spent numerous hours organizing health fairs, nutrition and relaxation seminars and activities so that employees can learn how to live better and longer lives.

Viviant has several years of previous experience in both the banking and Human Resources fields. She plans to expand her human resources knowledge and is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree. She was born in Hialeah, and currently lives in the Homestead area, where she is pleased to work so close to home. She has been married for 16 years and has two beautiful, smart, and charismatic children. When asked about what motivates her, Viviant quoted Joyce Meyer, “When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner.”

Community Bank of Florida was pleased to make a donation to the “Parrots” at Caribbean Elementary School. The contribution was made to assist the school in implementing a new idea- having a “Meet the Teacher” event. This event would allow parents to come in and see the school as well as meet their child’s new teacher. Interim Principal, Michelle Atherley, stated “Usually, an open house is held after school has already begun. Our new “Meet the Teacher” event would allow parents to establish a comfort level by getting to see where their little one would be going and meeting the teacher prior to school even starting.” Principal Atherley decided to inspire the staff by holding a luncheon prior to the Meet the Teacher event starting.

Caribbean Elementary is an established school that opened about 40 years ago in the South Miami Heights area. Students are enrolled in Pre-K through fifth grade. The school’s Agri-Science program is virtually unknown to outsiders but has created excitement among the students. They have partnered with the University of Miami as well as local high schools and working as a team, have constructed flower beds all around the school.

Community Bank of Florida has done it again! For the second year in a row, we've been named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of the Best Companies to Work For. A total of 100 companies in Florida were recognized in small, medium and large company categories. The rankings appear in the August issue of Florida Trend Magazine and on FloridaTrend.com.

Community Bank employees received the exciting news at the August monthly staff meeting and celebrated with commemorative key chains. Aileen Diaz, VP and Director of Human Resources had this to say about the fantastic news, “Community Bank of Florida truly cares about its employees. Not only are education and training at the forefront of our employees’ development and career success, but our company also fosters a positive and engaging family – work life balance.”

To be considered for participation, companies or government entities had to employ at least 15 workers in Florida and be at least a year old. Organizations that chose to participate in the Best Companies To Work For in Florida process underwent a two-part survey process. The first part consisted of evaluating each company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure employee satisfaction. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking.

CBF is proud to celebrate Claudia Ortega’s 5th Anniversary as a member of their Financial Family. Claudia is the bank's Payroll Coordinator of the Human Resources Department. She is very popular since her main responsibility is making sure employees get paid, but she also assists with employee benefits, compliance, and recruitment of new employees. Claudia has several years of previous experience in the Human Resources field and recently expanded her expertise by earning her Fundamental Payroll Certification through the American Payroll Association.

Claudia was born in Bogota, Colombia and currently lives in the Homestead area. She is extremely proud of her two children, a daughter in gifted classes with artistic talent, and a son who is very bright, but only has time for mixed martial arts. In her free time, she enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends. Enthusiastic about her anniversary, Claudia stated, “When I was first hired here, I heard talk about a family atmosphere and I thought it was something all companies said. But over the years, I’ve seen how the bank stands by family and our community, providing that family atmosphere. This is the first company where I truly feel at home and don’t ever want to leave!”

We recently visited Loren Roberts Park in Florida City, home of the Razorbacks, the 2011 Pee Wee Football Champions. The team was excited to take photos and accept a donation. We watched them do drills with the coaches and were quite impressed with their professionalism! The team is part of the southernmost Pop Warner organization in the continental United States and travels all over Miami competing. Their first game is this Saturday, so come on out and support them at Palmetto Park at 3pm. The players need assistance with supplies, registration fees and uniforms. If you’d like to help the team with a contribution, contact Pete Taylor at ptaylor@floridacityfl.gov or call (305) 247-8223.

The Greater Miami Pop Warner League was chartered in 1972, as the governing body of its eight associated member parks in Miami- Dade County. Pop Warner is the only national youth sports program which requires its participants to maintain a level of academic achievement in order to participate. Greater Miami- S. Florida Pop Warner is an all volunteer, 501c(3) non-profit organization that provides an organized tackle football and cheerleading program for over 3,500 children, from 6 to 15 years of age. For more info, visit miamipopwarner.org